True words were never spoken..Coralville, IOWA is hard to find even on an official Iowa road map.. The name IOWA CITY is plastered in BIG letters, and like all little neighbors, we don't , can't, won't say a word,, we'll just do what Coralville is good at........GROW, expand, push the envelope, think in and outside the box, rely on volunteers to man the events, refuse to rely on our easterly neighbor for any advice, leadership, opinions, etc.
Such a wonderful 'spirit' to have, and we here in Coralville have had a Coralville Pride element to the town and IN the residents for over 100 years! HUH?.. In 1875 the new little town ( 1873) needed a location for a school. A one room school,, a local businessman, Ezekial Clark donated land along '5th' street, and the locals built a TWO ROOM schoolhouse! They did NOT need a 2 room school, but the School Board said, 'someday we will'..,, in my opinion THIS was the first step of our button-popping Coralville Pride, 'drive', and spirit..
More to come, more to talk about,, but while/if/when you are out and about, take a look at all the 'action' in town, including several building cranes near 1st avenue along the Iowa River, visit the all new Backpocket Brewery, take a time warp couple of hours and visit the way COOL Antique Auto Museum and the Johnson County Historical Museum, and the new Coralville Center for the Performing Arts!
SEE, this IS a hot little town!!!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The real HEAT is now on!
Greetings from good old Coralville, Iowa.. It has been HOT so long, an 85 deg day seems like a cool one! It does! It remains, most days, in the low 90s, but even the low 90s are far and away nicer than the 102, 105, 107 stuff. IF that is AZ you can keep it.. AZ is the desert, so if you live down there and it is hot, well, too bad, IT"S A DESERT!! Not Iowa, we grow corn and beans.. a few hot days in the 90s, once in a great while a 100 deg day.. ...Oh well, we have to take what comes..
NOW I am learning that the schools open here in Iowa City on August 16.. AUGUST 16! NOT all schools are air conditioned...Boy, that will be a load of fun for the kids, and the teachers. I am thinking that schools will have EARLY DISMISSAL at 1pm, for the HEAT and not the SNOW....I'll bet so!
Well, we did not have a/c in the house, let alone the school when I was a kid. I remember my arm flab sticking to the papers on my desk. If you picked up your arm, the paper (handout) came with it! Nothing you could do,, it was just plain hot.. I DO remember the Principal's Office being cool...............hmmm..
Now you can drive around town and see the dead and dying, and the soon to be dead and dying trees, shrubs, plantings etc.. We will lose a zillion trees and shrubs for a year or so. They just got no water. IF you want to make some money, I suggest you get into the tree/shrub removal business.Lots of people in the landscape business, but nobody in the shrub removal business. You will need a pickup truck, a chain saw, a rake, etc.. You will have plenty to do! For a couple years
.....Yes Fall is here soon,, school opens, the same old stuff,, but this year, I am as excited about IOWA basketball! When was the last time you heard someone say that! IOWA has stirred up the pot in basketball. This season should be fun! , with more to come! We are on the right track back!!
HOT summer nites back in the day. We had no a/c at home, neither did anyone else so I guess we never missed it. NOW we can't live without it!
Keep cool my friends!!
NOW I am learning that the schools open here in Iowa City on August 16.. AUGUST 16! NOT all schools are air conditioned...Boy, that will be a load of fun for the kids, and the teachers. I am thinking that schools will have EARLY DISMISSAL at 1pm, for the HEAT and not the SNOW....I'll bet so!
Well, we did not have a/c in the house, let alone the school when I was a kid. I remember my arm flab sticking to the papers on my desk. If you picked up your arm, the paper (handout) came with it! Nothing you could do,, it was just plain hot.. I DO remember the Principal's Office being cool...............hmmm..
Now you can drive around town and see the dead and dying, and the soon to be dead and dying trees, shrubs, plantings etc.. We will lose a zillion trees and shrubs for a year or so. They just got no water. IF you want to make some money, I suggest you get into the tree/shrub removal business.Lots of people in the landscape business, but nobody in the shrub removal business. You will need a pickup truck, a chain saw, a rake, etc.. You will have plenty to do! For a couple years
.....Yes Fall is here soon,, school opens, the same old stuff,, but this year, I am as excited about IOWA basketball! When was the last time you heard someone say that! IOWA has stirred up the pot in basketball. This season should be fun! , with more to come! We are on the right track back!!
HOT summer nites back in the day. We had no a/c at home, neither did anyone else so I guess we never missed it. NOW we can't live without it!
Keep cool my friends!!
Friday, June 22, 2012
YES, it's TRUE!...Almost the 4th of July.. Can't be, but it is almost true. My favorite time of year and my favorite holiday, as I totally respect the reason for the holiday! Being told what to do by the British King did not sit well with the new Colonists, and they put their ingenuity, efforts, and rifles where there mouths and thoughts were! Thank GOD!! Hope you take a moment to 'thank the Colonists' every year, and those who wrote the Declaration of Independence!! Read the Constitution lately?.. Do it, very interesting. Simple and straight forward,,, AND people consider themselves 'experts on the Constitution and Constitutinal law.. READ it, you will be as smart as they are, as the document is straight forward!
Sweet corn on our tables BEFORE July! Earliest sweet corn season EVER so they are saying! This is fine with me. I am ready. I remember planting sweet corn at my Grandpa's house/garden when I was a kid. That would have been in the 50s. He had a HUGE garden out in the back yard. His specialty was strawberries. I hired on the pick them, and we made 10cents a quart and all the strawberries you wanted to eat. Well that did not last long,, as he knew, cuz after about 8 or 9 of them you are sick of them and don't eat any more! So, it sounded better than it really was! So, you bent over in the hot sun, picked them and got 10cents a quart!! Rip off!! .. And I was his Grandson!! HA!! He treated all the local boys the same.
I 'got' to help him rake, hoe, pick, etc a lot when I was a kid. Course I also mowed the grass,, all 3 lots on 6th avenue.......for a free supper and a $1.75....Man, slave labor.....I was actually having fun as I got to be around my Grandpa and Grandma. They were old and fun.. THEN at night, after working in the garden and mowing, we ate supper, and then watched Lawrence Welk..................................They loved it!!
Time marches on!!!
Sweet corn on our tables BEFORE July! Earliest sweet corn season EVER so they are saying! This is fine with me. I am ready. I remember planting sweet corn at my Grandpa's house/garden when I was a kid. That would have been in the 50s. He had a HUGE garden out in the back yard. His specialty was strawberries. I hired on the pick them, and we made 10cents a quart and all the strawberries you wanted to eat. Well that did not last long,, as he knew, cuz after about 8 or 9 of them you are sick of them and don't eat any more! So, it sounded better than it really was! So, you bent over in the hot sun, picked them and got 10cents a quart!! Rip off!! .. And I was his Grandson!! HA!! He treated all the local boys the same.
I 'got' to help him rake, hoe, pick, etc a lot when I was a kid. Course I also mowed the grass,, all 3 lots on 6th avenue.......for a free supper and a $1.75....Man, slave labor.....I was actually having fun as I got to be around my Grandpa and Grandma. They were old and fun.. THEN at night, after working in the garden and mowing, we ate supper, and then watched Lawrence Welk..................................They loved it!!
Time marches on!!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Get a good look now!
I suggest that you take walk, drive, or cruise around Coralville real soon. The 'landscape' is changing. The old vacant lots (corn field when I was a kid) next to the 'Old School ( 1876) on 5th street will be re-developed soon. 2 contenders are submitting their plans/ideas to the Coralville City Council later this month. The site SHOULD be the new home of apartments, condos, greenspace, bike trails, etc. We will see what the Council decides......
YOU should also go to the Iowa River Landing..LOOK at the skyline! A HUGE new hospital owned by the University of IOWA is under construction along with the HUGE parking ramp! The exterior work is really looking good, and now they are really going at it, inside.....Along side and just across the new street is the all new HOTEL as locally owned and a part of the Hilton chain. I think it is 95 rooms or so, PLUS new retail stores will soon go up, AND go down the hill (9th Street) and see the final stages of construction of the all new Backpocket Brewery! As I always say, 'what's a town that doesn't have its own brewery!!) So much more, a new extended stay hotel under construction near the Coral Ridge Mall, and HOT NEWS, Sears is leaving the Mall, and new stores will be arriving.. This is good. Sorry to see Sears leave, but it creates new opportunity of new/other stores that we might like..Don't forget the extension now underway on the east end of Oakdale Blvd, and BIG rumors around town of more buildings to come in the Iowa River Landing...Coralville has been 'in progress' since its inception in 1873.. Looking good!
YOU should also go to the Iowa River Landing..LOOK at the skyline! A HUGE new hospital owned by the University of IOWA is under construction along with the HUGE parking ramp! The exterior work is really looking good, and now they are really going at it, inside.....Along side and just across the new street is the all new HOTEL as locally owned and a part of the Hilton chain. I think it is 95 rooms or so, PLUS new retail stores will soon go up, AND go down the hill (9th Street) and see the final stages of construction of the all new Backpocket Brewery! As I always say, 'what's a town that doesn't have its own brewery!!) So much more, a new extended stay hotel under construction near the Coral Ridge Mall, and HOT NEWS, Sears is leaving the Mall, and new stores will be arriving.. This is good. Sorry to see Sears leave, but it creates new opportunity of new/other stores that we might like..Don't forget the extension now underway on the east end of Oakdale Blvd, and BIG rumors around town of more buildings to come in the Iowa River Landing...Coralville has been 'in progress' since its inception in 1873.. Looking good!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Backwards Spring!!
WOW! May in April, but now it's April in April.....! Can't figure all this weather out. All I know is that we did NOT have a real bad Winter.. We can deal with these windy/blustery days KNOWING that it could have been worse..Lots of tornadoes around the country lately, especially the Midwest.Since we all know this, it is pretty important that we are smart enough to deal with it. I have NO problem heading to the basement when I hear the siren or get a weather 'flash' on my cell phone. Last thing I want on my tombstone is 'Rex did not head to the basement' so HERE I lie".............At least make an effort.. Speaking of that,, the aftermath of a tornado is pretty bad. Lives are lost, homes are gone, pets are gone, towns are gone, etc.. If you live through it , consider yourself 'lucky' or 'saved'....Even if you are in the basement you can be sucked out and 'gone to the 'Land of Oz'.. Take our weather seriously,, I know I do..........
Speaking of that, once the tornado is gone, and your survived, but your house/belongings are scattered all over the neighborhood and area,,,wouldn't it have been 'foresight' to have a SAFE at home for some important papers.... Insurance papers, abstracts, Family photos, jewelry, guns, cash, etc.....Sure, you may have some of these things in the bank lockbox, but if you had a safe of some kind, you could have quicker access to it, and do a better job of putting valuables in the SAFE...I bought a nice fireproof, 5 drawer SAFE a few years ago.. The SAFE might blow down the street, but my stuff will be inside..I have car titles, photos, insurance papers etc in the SAFE.. Sure beats looking into every pile of twisted debris trying to find your insurance papers..
GET some sort of SAFE for your important 'stuff'.. Don't delay, go to Lowe's, or Scheels, or go online, or whatever, but do it now.. I am happy that I have one.
REX
Speaking of that, once the tornado is gone, and your survived, but your house/belongings are scattered all over the neighborhood and area,,,wouldn't it have been 'foresight' to have a SAFE at home for some important papers.... Insurance papers, abstracts, Family photos, jewelry, guns, cash, etc.....Sure, you may have some of these things in the bank lockbox, but if you had a safe of some kind, you could have quicker access to it, and do a better job of putting valuables in the SAFE...I bought a nice fireproof, 5 drawer SAFE a few years ago.. The SAFE might blow down the street, but my stuff will be inside..I have car titles, photos, insurance papers etc in the SAFE.. Sure beats looking into every pile of twisted debris trying to find your insurance papers..
GET some sort of SAFE for your important 'stuff'.. Don't delay, go to Lowe's, or Scheels, or go online, or whatever, but do it now.. I am happy that I have one.
REX
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Such a NICE colorful Spring!
I really think the trees are the prettiest I have ever seen.. EVER. Yes, we are having an Early Spring, following a warm Winter.. We needed an easy Winter after 3 or 4 doozies in a row. I took a lot of photos of the blossoming trees in front of my office in Coralville. They are Bartlett Pear trees,, NO pears..They look great in the Spring, and the little (bitty) fruit that does form, stays on all winter, OR until the Cedar Wax Wings hit the trees enmasse in the late Fall as they meander south, then they make a visit early Spring to hit them again....Our tulips look good too. I am a sucker for a yellow tulip. So nice, so clean and fresh looking.. The BIG rumor is the the Pella Tulip Festival will/could be the Pella NO Tulip Festival, as they are blooming NOW, about a month early...So, most likely they have faced a cold Spring with no tulips, now this.. I hear they are importing tulips from farther north for the event. I have never been there, but I know it is beautiful.
..When I was kid here in Coralville, my Grandparents lived in their original house and BIG yard here in the old part of Coralville. Their house, built in 1920s is still looking good.. I drive past once in awhile to relive things..THEY had the most beautiful peonies ever.. They had snow white and dark red.. (dark red) They lined the long drive, and for every 4 or 5 red ones, there was a nice white.....We liked the red so much that we planted a couple of the peonies in Coralville Cemetery next to the family plot. I KNOW they like that! I don't do much, if any yardwork anymore,, kind of miss it, but then again I don't. But I DO know nice looking plants, a nice looking yard, plantings, when I see them. .One of my favorites is the Redbud tree. Such little 'flowers', .. such gangly looking trees,, THEN boom, the leaves get BIG, kind of waxy, and shroud the trees in full color. Nice trees..Down in the older parts of Coralville,, ( 5th,6th, 7th, 8th, 9th avenues areas, we used to have a lot of Elm trees..Dutch Elm took them out in the mid 60s..In their place people planted a lot of Silver Maple trees... Not good, this is the 'helicopter' trees.. The one that puts out the seeds that fall to the ground (or in your gutters) by rotating like a helicopter.. Not a long living tree, and they die from the INSIDE.. A big Silver Maple tree will always be rather hollow in the middle, thus prone to wind damage, falling on houses etc.....Keep an eye on these trees if you have one AND on one if your neighbor has one and IF it is growing over your garage, house, property etc.. If it falls on YOUR house or garage, YOU have to call YOUR insurance company for help.. NOT good, but that is the way it works.
NOW you know a lot of things about trees, flowers etc.........What fun! I am still here in Coralville and I love it!!
Did you know we might be getting ANOTHER hospital in addition to the new one now being built near the Marriott? See, it pays to read my blog!!!
..When I was kid here in Coralville, my Grandparents lived in their original house and BIG yard here in the old part of Coralville. Their house, built in 1920s is still looking good.. I drive past once in awhile to relive things..THEY had the most beautiful peonies ever.. They had snow white and dark red.. (dark red) They lined the long drive, and for every 4 or 5 red ones, there was a nice white.....We liked the red so much that we planted a couple of the peonies in Coralville Cemetery next to the family plot. I KNOW they like that! I don't do much, if any yardwork anymore,, kind of miss it, but then again I don't. But I DO know nice looking plants, a nice looking yard, plantings, when I see them. .One of my favorites is the Redbud tree. Such little 'flowers', .. such gangly looking trees,, THEN boom, the leaves get BIG, kind of waxy, and shroud the trees in full color. Nice trees..Down in the older parts of Coralville,, ( 5th,6th, 7th, 8th, 9th avenues areas, we used to have a lot of Elm trees..Dutch Elm took them out in the mid 60s..In their place people planted a lot of Silver Maple trees... Not good, this is the 'helicopter' trees.. The one that puts out the seeds that fall to the ground (or in your gutters) by rotating like a helicopter.. Not a long living tree, and they die from the INSIDE.. A big Silver Maple tree will always be rather hollow in the middle, thus prone to wind damage, falling on houses etc.....Keep an eye on these trees if you have one AND on one if your neighbor has one and IF it is growing over your garage, house, property etc.. If it falls on YOUR house or garage, YOU have to call YOUR insurance company for help.. NOT good, but that is the way it works.
NOW you know a lot of things about trees, flowers etc.........What fun! I am still here in Coralville and I love it!!
Did you know we might be getting ANOTHER hospital in addition to the new one now being built near the Marriott? See, it pays to read my blog!!!
Friday, March 23, 2012
My first GTO glimpse!
WHO says it can't BE and STAY warm in March!!.. Well, I did actually. WHOda thunk that we could 'get by' like this.. We'll take it and won't look back!. Dust off those golf clubs, uncover the BBQ, roll out the old car, clean out the garage! I was working in the garage the other day and found several old 'retired' putters. They are in that big container along with those stupid fold up lawn chairs.. Those putters 'did not work', so I won't use them anymore........Why keep them in the golf bag if 'they don't work'....?....I actually got the GTO out last weekend, and I intend to do it again this weekend. Lots of fun! It burns a lot of gas and creates a BIG carbon footprint!! I LOVE IT!!..I remember seeing my first GTO. Who cares? I do..SO, a bunch of us Coralville Brain Surgeons 'to be' , were walking home from Coralville Jr. High one day in 1963. FALL of 1963. There were 4 or 5 of us.. L.B. Rickards, Ron Kron, Rex, maybe one of the Lenoch boys....and on the NW corner of 8th avenue and 7th street,,, in front of 702 8th avenue,, THERE sat a brand new 1964 GTO!! WOW! They were JUST out. JUST out...I read about them in Hot Rod, or maybe Road & Track....Yes, Road and Track.. I know why too!! Pontiac decided to make a HUGE splash with this new car/idea, so they said it 'out ran a famous brand of Italian sports car!' It DID!! ,, for a few feet! The story and 'plot' is legendary. The Muscle Car was born....This GTO sitting in Coralville was the 'salmon' color that Pontiac liked that year, had a 4 speed, tri-card setup, and Mickey Thompson mags.. If you are not a car guy, this means nothing to you.. In Coralville, Iowa, sat one of the first GTOs...., And I saw it and remember it...........................
Those were the days!!
Those were the days!!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Matt Gatens forever!
I can't forget this IMPORTANT tidbit....IOWA basketball has an outstanding young Senior named Matt Gatens.. Matt has had a great career at IOWA, and his last home game (barring a post season NIT or some other tourney with IOWA as a host school) will take place tomorrow, Saturday, March 3 at 1:30 at Carver Arena.. The legendary Al Grady, long time (late Al Grady) Sports Editor at the Iowa City Press Citizen, used to say, 'the bes way to watch 4 years FLY by, is when IOWA gets a good player (any sport) and the 4 years is gone in a flash"....No truer words were ever spoken by Al Grady, and they are true.. WHERE has the 4 years gone for Matt? I sure wish we had ONE MORE year for Matt....Coach Fran has the program heading NORTH, and it would be great to have Matt back.. BUT that is selfish on my part, Matt played for 4 years. He is grown up and needs/wants (most likely) to go to another level. NBA ? Europe? Who knows.. He's a smart kid, and whatever/wherever he goes in life,, he will be successful...
HERE is my ultimate theory: The Gatens Family is from Coralville. Matt's grandparents Don/MaryLou lived HIGH on the big hill above the Coralville Burger King.. Take a look at the stone marker in front of Burger King on the corner.. SEE, it has the name Gatens on it...Don/MaryLou had 3 kids.. MarySue, Steve, and Mike. The Gatens kids grew up in 'Old Coralville'.. They went to Coralville Central (just Coralville Elementary back then) and on to West High.....MarySue might have gone to City High,, I don't remember....The Gatens boys were in the mix with all the 'goins ons' in Coralville..
SO I am saying that Matt Gatens is actually a Coralville Kid by lineage.. THIS explains his excellent talent both on and off the court..His Dad, Aunt, and Uncle have, no doubt, also told him that he has Coralville 'blood' and THIS has helped in his career........................................
I know this does not sound 'right', but you can trust me,,,,,I am from Coralville and look at me!!!
Go Matt!!
HERE is my ultimate theory: The Gatens Family is from Coralville. Matt's grandparents Don/MaryLou lived HIGH on the big hill above the Coralville Burger King.. Take a look at the stone marker in front of Burger King on the corner.. SEE, it has the name Gatens on it...Don/MaryLou had 3 kids.. MarySue, Steve, and Mike. The Gatens kids grew up in 'Old Coralville'.. They went to Coralville Central (just Coralville Elementary back then) and on to West High.....MarySue might have gone to City High,, I don't remember....The Gatens boys were in the mix with all the 'goins ons' in Coralville..
SO I am saying that Matt Gatens is actually a Coralville Kid by lineage.. THIS explains his excellent talent both on and off the court..His Dad, Aunt, and Uncle have, no doubt, also told him that he has Coralville 'blood' and THIS has helped in his career........................................
I know this does not sound 'right', but you can trust me,,,,,I am from Coralville and look at me!!!
Go Matt!!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ramblin' this time,, as always..
ALL eyes are still on Coralville. BIG new hospital coming to town, courtesy of the University of Iowa (and us taxpayers), HUGE new Hotel coming to town adjacent to the BIG new Hospital, REALLY BIG retail center coming to be NEXT to the BIG new Hospital, and maybe the best news is that Coralville will soon have a ...............................Brewery! What is a town that doesn't have a Brewery!! Yep, Backpocket Brewery is under construction as we speak. It is just a 5 Wood from the BIG new Hospital....If the Doc says 'your time is up", you might as well wander down to the Brewery and have a beer!!....
I will do my best to be 'reporter on the scene' on Opening Day..NOT to be confused with the Baseball Opening Day. I have tasted their products and we will have a GREAT Brewery!
..Just looking around town (Coralville) it is sure plain to see that everything looks pretty drab. TOTALLY normal for this time of year. Raining and dark today, and sunshine helps, but once warmer weather arrives,, voila,, ! Green! Can't wait.. Been an easy Winter, so maybe a nice hot summer will also be ours.. Let's hope.
SO many projects underway in Coralville...New Hotel (go figure) out near Coral Ridge Mall. More apartments underway (go figure) and yes, more restaurants coming and going....routine of course. No need to go to Iowa City now, they are installing red light cameras to impose martial law on motorists...Just send in your money OR better yet, COME TO CORALVILLE! No parking meters, no red light cameras, just wide open spaces, free parking, and lots of great stores, restaurants, businesses to visit!
I am here everyday but I see new things all the time!
..Enjoy next Wednesday, February 29.........It won't be back for 4 years!!
REX
I will do my best to be 'reporter on the scene' on Opening Day..NOT to be confused with the Baseball Opening Day. I have tasted their products and we will have a GREAT Brewery!
..Just looking around town (Coralville) it is sure plain to see that everything looks pretty drab. TOTALLY normal for this time of year. Raining and dark today, and sunshine helps, but once warmer weather arrives,, voila,, ! Green! Can't wait.. Been an easy Winter, so maybe a nice hot summer will also be ours.. Let's hope.
SO many projects underway in Coralville...New Hotel (go figure) out near Coral Ridge Mall. More apartments underway (go figure) and yes, more restaurants coming and going....routine of course. No need to go to Iowa City now, they are installing red light cameras to impose martial law on motorists...Just send in your money OR better yet, COME TO CORALVILLE! No parking meters, no red light cameras, just wide open spaces, free parking, and lots of great stores, restaurants, businesses to visit!
I am here everyday but I see new things all the time!
..Enjoy next Wednesday, February 29.........It won't be back for 4 years!!
REX
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Hi!
Mid-February and we have a little snow on the ground. NO complaints from me. NONE! We can handle this snow, and we can handle it from here on out! This has been great. This is what I consider an IOWA Winter...The ones like last year were Northern Minnesota winters gone south to IOWA..
I've been thinking about all the old people I see around town. NOT that I am young, as I am 62, but I see people that are old. Now you know IOWA has the second largest % of people over 65. Ok, ..this means lots of older people driving, (slow) lots of older people in line at Hy-Vee, (slow) lots of older people in restaurants, (slow) lots of people in lines at the Post Office needing help, (slow).....I guess it is just normal.. JUST yesterday we were going down the street here in Coralville and my wife Michele said in a loud voice,' GET GOING GRAMPS"!,, here I was driving down Holiday Road at about 20mph.. , JUST like the old people do!!!! What was I doing!! My friends all say the I drive slow......Have you seen the Coralville Cops around every bush?.. They are always running radar... I will continue to drive slow............I guess........If I remember.
Have you seen how many geese are wintering here in Coralville? WOW! Go look at the 'mob' below the old dam and see for yourself.. This never used to happen. Geese have adapted to our society better. Instead of migrating south to Florida, Cairo, Ill, et,,,, they hang around an area as slong as they can eat, find open water, etc.. WHY fly so far when you can stay here and eat etc. They really like it here!..When I was a kid here in Coralville we NEVER saw geese around town. Never. Migratory habits have changed. WISH I was smart enough to go to Florida, but I am not. I guess I prefer good old Coralville.. DO NOT ask my wife what SHE prefers in January or February. I don't think her story would match.
So I hope all is well with you, hunker down, and hang on as real soon we will hear the 4 best words in the English language when they are put into a sentence: "Pitchers and Catchers Report". SPRING TRAINING!!
Mid-February and we have a little snow on the ground. NO complaints from me. NONE! We can handle this snow, and we can handle it from here on out! This has been great. This is what I consider an IOWA Winter...The ones like last year were Northern Minnesota winters gone south to IOWA..
I've been thinking about all the old people I see around town. NOT that I am young, as I am 62, but I see people that are old. Now you know IOWA has the second largest % of people over 65. Ok, ..this means lots of older people driving, (slow) lots of older people in line at Hy-Vee, (slow) lots of older people in restaurants, (slow) lots of people in lines at the Post Office needing help, (slow).....I guess it is just normal.. JUST yesterday we were going down the street here in Coralville and my wife Michele said in a loud voice,' GET GOING GRAMPS"!,, here I was driving down Holiday Road at about 20mph.. , JUST like the old people do!!!! What was I doing!! My friends all say the I drive slow......Have you seen the Coralville Cops around every bush?.. They are always running radar... I will continue to drive slow............I guess........If I remember.
Have you seen how many geese are wintering here in Coralville? WOW! Go look at the 'mob' below the old dam and see for yourself.. This never used to happen. Geese have adapted to our society better. Instead of migrating south to Florida, Cairo, Ill, et,,,, they hang around an area as slong as they can eat, find open water, etc.. WHY fly so far when you can stay here and eat etc. They really like it here!..When I was a kid here in Coralville we NEVER saw geese around town. Never. Migratory habits have changed. WISH I was smart enough to go to Florida, but I am not. I guess I prefer good old Coralville.. DO NOT ask my wife what SHE prefers in January or February. I don't think her story would match.
So I hope all is well with you, hunker down, and hang on as real soon we will hear the 4 best words in the English language when they are put into a sentence: "Pitchers and Catchers Report". SPRING TRAINING!!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
HERE I sit in my office on a bright, but cold January Saturday morning. It is clear and cold, BUT the key word is CLEAR! The sun is out and it is not cloudy, dreary, etc. Great day to be in IOWA!
My heart is all aflutter about Spring already. Well the Winter so far has lead us all to 'think Spring' a little early!!..I have been watching the BIG car auction on SpeedTV.....The annual Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction from Phoenix.. First of all, I don't see people with winter coats on, and they are all walking around carrying a margarita! THAT can't be all bad!
So many cars and almost everyone of them that crosses the auction block reminds me of when I first saw one, or WHO had one here in Coralville...Easy entertainment for boring ol' Rex! Nice looking 58' Chevy.. We had a brand new one, but my Mom did not like it..My Dad sold it to the neighbors, and they drove it for YEARS!!...................I saw a nice looking DeSoto last nite. Kenny Moore, owner of the long gone but famous Coralville landmark, Wagon Wheel Tavern, was a 'DeSoto Man'.. He had some nice ones. They always sat in his driveway up on the 700 block of 7th avenue...Waaay cool 56' Plymouth.. LeRoy and MaryAnne Lenoch got a brand new 56 Plymouth station wagon in 1956.. It was a light tourquoise OR light light green... Cool car! Rode it in many times to Little League games,etc......Nice 50' Merc.. Dean and Joyce Drury had a 50' Merc 4 door... Nodoby had a clue that the 50 Merc would become one of the icons of the 'car world later on...........My wife even sat up straight when the 70' GTO JUDGE convertible showed up last nite. Gray with beautiful red interior...$ 135,000........WOW!!!!...........Can't help but remember the 63' Plymouth station wagon that the Bill Bruner Family had. Neat brown color and it had a HUGE tail gate area for kids to ride on!..The Drury Family later got a way cool Ford Falcon wagon.. We kids ALWAYS as in ALWAYS rode on the rear tailgate..Did Imentnion ALWAYS!!?........The rear tailgate window went UP, and the lower half of the tailgate openened up flat, thus a great place to sit.....3 guys across......Wave to people, watch the world go past 'backwards'... This was perfect for trips to City Park Pool, Little League games, etc....SO much fun, so long ago...............Not long ago my wife Michele said , 'look at all the cars that are gray'.. We were in the Hy-Vee parking lot.. WOW, tons of cars are gray........We had a black 59 VW, a blue over white 58' Chevy, a white over royal blue 60' Pontiac, and cool green 66' Dodge Coronet, a blue 53 Ford, a baby blue 52 Nash, a black 55 Nash (my Dad loved Nash cars!), and so on...Lots of our neighbors had neat cars too.....Oh well,,,, it's time to go see a house,, in my 'gray-ish' Jeep Grand Cherokee//////////////////////// See you in Coralville!!
My heart is all aflutter about Spring already. Well the Winter so far has lead us all to 'think Spring' a little early!!..I have been watching the BIG car auction on SpeedTV.....The annual Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction from Phoenix.. First of all, I don't see people with winter coats on, and they are all walking around carrying a margarita! THAT can't be all bad!
So many cars and almost everyone of them that crosses the auction block reminds me of when I first saw one, or WHO had one here in Coralville...Easy entertainment for boring ol' Rex! Nice looking 58' Chevy.. We had a brand new one, but my Mom did not like it..My Dad sold it to the neighbors, and they drove it for YEARS!!...................I saw a nice looking DeSoto last nite. Kenny Moore, owner of the long gone but famous Coralville landmark, Wagon Wheel Tavern, was a 'DeSoto Man'.. He had some nice ones. They always sat in his driveway up on the 700 block of 7th avenue...Waaay cool 56' Plymouth.. LeRoy and MaryAnne Lenoch got a brand new 56 Plymouth station wagon in 1956.. It was a light tourquoise OR light light green... Cool car! Rode it in many times to Little League games,etc......Nice 50' Merc.. Dean and Joyce Drury had a 50' Merc 4 door... Nodoby had a clue that the 50 Merc would become one of the icons of the 'car world later on...........My wife even sat up straight when the 70' GTO JUDGE convertible showed up last nite. Gray with beautiful red interior...$ 135,000........WOW!!!!...........Can't help but remember the 63' Plymouth station wagon that the Bill Bruner Family had. Neat brown color and it had a HUGE tail gate area for kids to ride on!..The Drury Family later got a way cool Ford Falcon wagon.. We kids ALWAYS as in ALWAYS rode on the rear tailgate..Did Imentnion ALWAYS!!?........The rear tailgate window went UP, and the lower half of the tailgate openened up flat, thus a great place to sit.....3 guys across......Wave to people, watch the world go past 'backwards'... This was perfect for trips to City Park Pool, Little League games, etc....SO much fun, so long ago...............Not long ago my wife Michele said , 'look at all the cars that are gray'.. We were in the Hy-Vee parking lot.. WOW, tons of cars are gray........We had a black 59 VW, a blue over white 58' Chevy, a white over royal blue 60' Pontiac, and cool green 66' Dodge Coronet, a blue 53 Ford, a baby blue 52 Nash, a black 55 Nash (my Dad loved Nash cars!), and so on...Lots of our neighbors had neat cars too.....Oh well,,,, it's time to go see a house,, in my 'gray-ish' Jeep Grand Cherokee//////////////////////// See you in Coralville!!
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